On September 12 at a little past noon, Auxiliary Bishop Edward Clark, surrounded by students in white shirts and ties, blessed and dedicated St. Bernard High School's new Pope John Paul II Campus Ministry Center in Playa del Rey.
"May our youth grow in wisdom and age and grace before you and all your people," said the bishop, using a green branch to bless the center with holy water. "May the center always be a home of truth and wisdom, of faith and good will towards all. To the prayers of St. Bernard and of Pope John Paul II, may this center help our school community and build your kingdom in justice, light and peace."
The former second-story classroom was decorated with framed photos of John Paul on the walls plus a yellow papal flag. A couple of cozy rust-brown easy chairs were tucked in one corner, with a kneeler before a portrait of the popular pope in another. A conference table occupied the center space.
"It's wonderful 'cause the room we were using last year wasn't as holy," Leah Rodriguez, a 17-year-old senior, said after the brief ceremony. "When you're in here, you know it's a place of silence and prayer. It just really shows that you're respectful and you have the Lord present."
Fellow senior Matthew Gray agreed. He thought naming the sacred place after Pope John Paul II was a great idea. "He was the pope for most of the time since I was born," the 16-year-old pointed out. "I think having this new center is going to be able to bring us together as a community at the school, where you can pray together and stay basically close together.'"
Both students belonged to St. Bernard's Christian leadership team, which plans retreats, Masses and other liturgies at the coed high school. Both felt privileged to be members of the first senior class to have the center on campus.
Conventual Franciscan Brother Chris Saindon, who lives on campus, is the school's new campus minister, having worked at St. Bernard's since 1999. He also chairs the English department and teaches honors and AP English classes.
"We needed a new center for a 'middle ground' spirituality on campus," the educator told The Tidings. "Because sometimes the chapels are too daunting for students, and the courtyard here is a little too casual. Now the center is kind of a middle space where they can get some spiritual reading in, pray if they need to and have meetings for clubs on campus that have religious purposes."
Brother Saindon said the Christian leaders were really "psyched" about their new headquarters.
"My hope is that in the future it really does become that place where students can meet and talk about faith experiences and spiritual things," he said. "We're hoping to reground the school's spiritual life and commit it to the identity of John Paul.
"Kids tend to shy away from the two beautiful chapels we have on campus," he reported. "So the center is sort of a chapel with wheels, if you will. Perhaps the best way to describe it is a 'spiritual oasis.'"
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